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LibreOffice vulnerable to multiple buffer overflows
Three weeks after releasing LibreOffice 3.5.5, The Document Foundation has confirmed that security holes in earlier versions of the open source LibreOffice productivity suite can be exploited by attackers to compromise a victim's system. According to the project's security advisory, these include multiple heap-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities in the XML manifest encryption tag parsing code.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerabilities could lead to the execution of arbitrary code on a system with the privileges of a local user. For an attack to be successful, a victim must first open a specially crafted Open Document Format (ODF) file. Versions up to and including LibreOffice 3.5.4 are affected; upgrading to version 3.5.5 or later fixes these problems. All users are advised to upgrade.
The developers note that the 3.6.0 release of LibreOffice also closes these holes. However, at the time of writing, this version has yet to be released only the fourth release candidate is available.
See also:
- Multiple heap-based buffer overflows in the XML manifest encryption handling code, security advisory from LibreOffice.


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Security Breach Incident - X23: On ██/.██/██, SCP Site 19 breached by operatives from an organization known to the Foundation only as 'The Serpent's Hand'.
Site-19 Breach: The breach of Site-19 seems to have been the second of two break-ins into SCP properties by ██████████, known to the Foundation as "L.S." This individual was responsible for a previous security breach, having coordinated the theft of SCP-268. Though [DATA EXPUNGED], it is evident from video surveillance that SCP-268 was involved in this infiltration. The intruder known as L.S. seems to have simply walked into Site-19.
The intrusion seems to have been for the purpose of using SCP-914. Knowledge of the intruder's use of SCP-914 can only be assumed due to the intruders interruption of Dr. ██████ during routine testing. Dr. ██████ seems to have been [DATA EXPUNGED], resulting in the intrusion's only personnel casualty.
SCP-407 seems to have been deleted from the Foundation's system during this time, so it can only be assumed the individuals involved are responsible. Whether this means the file has been completely destroyed, or possibly in the hands of this rogue group, is unknown.
A short printed note was found in SCP-914's chamber; this note is the only insight the Foundation currently has of the group responsible for this incident. [See Document X23-01]
Document X23-01:
Dear Sirs of the Foundation
Behind guns and protocol you hide; desperately chaining the ineffable, yourselves stuck within your own self-wrought pitiful cages of fear and ignorance. You think yourselves the shepherd guarding the flocks of the unwise o'er the night, but you are so shaken by doubt and fear than in your bewildered arrogance, you would vainly seek to chain the sun itself unto the heavens to hold back the daily night. The delivering angels themselves you contain with three digits and four walls. Do you not see the blindness with which you walk and swing your blade? On the final day, would you have us contain Black Surtr himself with measures and science, and condemn ourselves to rotten stagnancy as you hold back his pure cleansing fires?
I do not ask you not to act, but act with enlightenment and heart; neither should one be seduced by the dark nor blinded by the light, but walk firmly in the twilight and gaze unto all realms. Walk the World of Fire with bare feet and you will find yourself without the scars you never knew you had.
Alas, in your fears, you fail to see the Old Gods that we all are, and unable to accept this sovereignty, detain both thought and essence of those that would take man beyond the mundane. Do not be so eager to hold back the tides of unrelenting destruction, that you trample what brave weed that would dare grow in the monochrome world you wish to pave. Such blind order stiffles chaos, and what is chaos but life?
I leave you with one final truth; The Garden is the Serpent's place; the divinities of fear and order who come to walk in the cool evening air are only visitors. Do not fail to see the evil hiding in the light, nor the aromatic beauty of the palest flower of darkness.
Signed Sincerely,
L.S.P.S. - You'll thank me for deleting what you call '407'

subset: commoncrawl


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Egypt Posters
Egypt, the land of the Pharaohs as it most commonly called, is one of the world's most popular tourist destination. It is one of those places that will leave an indelible experience when you leave there. One of the most notable landmarks there is the Pyramids of Giza where all the Egyptian Pharaohs were laid to rest. The geometrically aligned Sphinx is a spectacle to behold when you reach there. Egypt is also a well destination because of its oases in the Mediterranean. The lush vegetation in the desert nation is just one example of how brilliant Mother Nature is.
Are you up for Egyptian posters?
When you buy an Egypt poster, think of it as an aesthetic addition that brings the beauty of the Middle East nation to the living room. The desert landscape in particular will add a lot of colour to the room. If you are into the romantic side of the desert, then owning an Egypt poster or framed art is the best investment one can make. One can also opt for a poster showing the different cultures in Egypt. This will enhance the ambience of your home by creating a sense of diversity of culture in your house. Apart from a poster one can also opt for a printed art print and canvas art.
Egypt as printed art and canvas
One can opt for a panoramic wall hanging picture of let's say the Pyramids of Giza or Cairo. If you are into collecting frame art, then a canvas print or an art print is an ideal fit for you. The reason is that they tend to last longer and capture the eye immediately when they are seen.


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Curiosity About Exorcism
There exists in the nature of American society an appeal for the provocative, the unusual, the extreme, the mysterious. There comes along from time to time an event, news story or motion picture that attracts the attention, imagination and curiosity of the people. It sweeps the country and becomes the conversation piece wherever one goes. There has recently been such an excitement and interest in a film arousing the curiosity to such a high level that people have lined up for blocks on end all over the country to see it. This phenomenon is the film, "The Exorcist", based on the book by the same name and supposedly dealing with the practice of exorcism in the Roman Catholic Church. It deals with "possession of the devil" and his works of evil, and how and why he chooses his subjects. This film has created an unusual interest in the devil, and has triggered a feverish controversy as to whether there is such a thing as "possession by demons". The question everyone is asking is why has this subject of the devil aroused such an interest and curiosity. The film is frightening, shocking, pornographic, hideous, causes people to become ill, and is blasphemous in gruesome detail. Yet it is so appealing to the public.
"The Exorcist" is awakening people to the reality of the devil that his evil works are very real in the world, influencing people and nations. The existence of the devil and his works of evil is a teaching of Scripture, where it reveals that Jesus Christ Himself banished demons from afflicted persons. The mission of Christ was not only to reveal the nature of the True God, but also to destroy the power of Satan. The Eastern Orthodox Church has used prayers of exorcism to ward off the influence of evil spirits since the third century. Presented here are the belief, teaching and practice of the Eastern Orthodox Church on exorcism.
Creation of Angels
Almighty God created the universe out of nothing. He created all the creatures visible and invisible in such a way as to constitute a unique, coherent whole. The universe declares that it is created from nothing in its grandeur and purpose. It is created by the Holy Trinity: "For from him and through him and to him are all things", Romans 11:36. God created man in a special way, uniting nature and spirit. Man is the microcosm that reflects the whole universe. God also created the invisible world, the spiritual world, the angels. The Bible refers frequently to the existence of spiritual beings, called angels, and their mission to convey the Will of God to men.
The creation of angels is a truth of the Church, its creed stating that God is the Maker of everything visible and invisible. The Bible says of the creation of the invisible world:
"For in him (Christ) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities - all things were created through him and for him. He isbefore all things and in him all things come together",
Colossians 1:16-17.
The angels were created either before the creation of the material world, when the sense, of time is incomprehensible to man, or, it is thought by some Fathers, at the very beginning of creation, when light was created on the first day.
The nature of angels is bodiless, spiritual. They have no flesh and bones (cf. Luke 24:39). But the spiritual nature of angels is not the same as God. They have an ethereal (very thin) body, thus they cannot be everywhere at the same time. Angels often take on the forms of men or youth; they speak in human voices; they eat and appear clothed, and many times wear wings. As spiritual beings the angels have no sex, therefore do not multiply. The host of angels, though, is innumerable. Although they cannot be in many places at the same time, they move from place to place. The Holy Bible says the place of angels is in the heavens, meaning throughout the universe. The angels have great power and strength: "The angelrolled back the stone (in front of the tomb) and sat upon it", Matthew 28:2; "when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven withhis mighty angels in flaming fire", 2 Thessalonians 1:7. Physically, mentally and spiritually they are superior to man, and their will has been inclined toward good.
Angels can no longer be tempted, nor can they sin. They are self-protected ever since their test and fall at the time of temptation. Through the Grace of God, they are no longer in danger of falling. The main role of angels is to praise and glorify God and communicate and execute His Will and commandments. Their special task is to minister to the redemption of man. Angels were ministering at the birth of Christ, His temptation in the wilderness, His Resurrection. His Ascension and other such events. For "are they notall ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?", Hebrews 1:14. The belief that each person is under the protection of a guardian angel was held by many Fathers of the Church,"For he will give his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways", Psalm 91:11. The Church in its Divine Liturgy prays: "For an angel of peace, a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and bodies". The angels act as ministers of Divine Providence, effecting the thoughts of people and the fate The Grace of God protects man. He must, however, invoke of nations without, however, interfering with their free will.
There are innumerable angels, with various ranks among them. According to Pseudo-Dionysios (4th century), the angels are divided into nine orders: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; - Dominions, Principalities, Authorities; - Powers, Archangels and Angels. Names of angels are not known except for Michael, Gabriel and Rafael. The Christian prays that Almighty God protects him through the angels, especially at the time of struggle against temptation in life.
Fallen Angels Become Demons
Many angels during the time of temptation out of arrogance, self-deceit and disobedience, attempted to be above God Himself and fell from the sight of God. As self-deceited, they cannot be saved as man is saved, since he is deceived by the devil. These "fallen" angels are the demons, the evil and unclean spirits, of whom the chief is Satan. In the Bible they are referred to by various names, depending on their particular work: devil, satan, serpent, father of lies, deceiver, murderer, lucifer, tempter, evil spirit, chief of darkness, dragon, veelzevoul, veliar and eosforos. They thought they could be independent from God, and a revolution took place among the angels:
"Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him"
Revelations 12:7-9
Demons oppose the redemptive work of Christ for the salvation of man. They attempt to lead the faithful ones away from God by placing obstacles in their path and exploiting difficult events, such as illness, loss of job, poverty, prison, etc. Nevertheless,
"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life"
Rev. 2:10.
The work of demons among ungodly people is easier because they are willing prey for the works of evil, being arrogant and indifferent. The demons meddle in the thoughts, and activities of the faithful as much as God permits. God permits it to the point where the faithful one is able to exert his free will with the help of the Grace of God. Demons cannot effect the free will of man, but only tempt him.
The Grace of God protects man. He must, however, invoke God's help. Constant prayer and fasting, devoted meditation, regular Bible reading, following the two great commandments of God (love of God and love of neighbor) are the weapons of the Christian against temptation from demons. The inclination of the individual toward sinful desires, the so called consupisentia, is not sin in itself; it is the weakness which needs protection; it is weakness which evil spirits try to exploit. The Christian prays constantly to our Father to lead us not into temptation and to deliver us from evil (one) (cf. Mtt 6:13). The Christian should not expose himself to temptation by using drugs, pornography or loose living, which are the products of sinful thinking. The Christian should be alert, day and night, to ward off the evil temptation that surround him: "Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him". James 1:12; also the Christian should not blame others or God when yielding to temptation: "Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one". The Christian should blame himself when he yields. "Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires", and becomes the prey of self-deceitfulness, because his "desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren", James 1:12-16.
The Christian should not always blame Satan when he himself opens the door wide to him. Without the will of man Satan cannot win his desire to tempt him, either to do bad or to become alienated from God. Man can invoke the Grace of God and His blessings to fight and win against evil. If one is not strong and submits to the desires of temptation, evil can easily "possess" him. If one permits evil spirits to develop and progress through indifference and a compromising attitude toward moral standards, then he can easily become influenced and "possessed" by evil. If one does not discriminate between good and evil and right and wrong, he can easily become "possessed" by evil. If one lacks faith in God and through this lack creates a vacuum in his heart and soul, he can easily become "possessed" by evil. If one permits this vacuum to exist in an unbelieving heart and soul, he is filled with certain "demonic" forces which will direct him in all he does.
The evil force which leads some persons to the altar of manmon is the demon of greed, where no love, warmth or heart is found. Persons who have the demon of greed never find peace for their souls and hearts nor enjoy a spirit of joy and satisfaction. Others are possessed by the demon of pride, and worship the idol of reason. They think that they journey to a life of joy and deepest satisfaction, but they soon discover that this reason is cold and unsatisfactory. Others still are led by the demon of lust, who depletes their energies, afflicts their bodies, incapacitates their minds and destroys their lives. Still others are led by the demon of fear, and seek out fortune tellers and astrologers, who fill their hearts with lies and deception and fail to provide answers which bring peace. Demons work constantly to deceive unbelieving persons into doing unsuspecting works of evil through many channels. The preliminary work of demons degenerates human nature, which is the key to captivity. Demons work in such a way to make immoral acts and deeds seem normal and acceptable. This is real "possession".
To banish the demons who tempt people, the Church instituted and uses a special service called exorcism. The verb exorcism comes from the Greek word, exorkizein; ex means "out," and horkizein means "to bind by an oath" from horkos, "oath"; to expel or drive off (an evil spirit) by adjuration, especially by use of a holy name; to deliver (a person, place, etc.) from evil spirits. Consequently exorcism means an act or process of exorcising; conjuration of evil spirits. In the third century, the Church instituted the office of exorcist to officiate the service of exorcism for catechumens before their baptism. Prior to the third century, the deacon officiated at this service, but because "Seven deacons, according to the Acts of the Apostles, should be appointed for each great city" (Canon 15, Synod of Neocaesaria), there were not enough deacons to serve all the needs of the Church. Therefore, the office of exorcist, along with many other offices (sub-deacon, reader, cantor, doorkeeper), was instituted to serve this need. The office of the exorcist is ranked higher than the reader; those who hold these offices are considered members of the clergy appointed by the bishop (cf. Canon 26, Synod of Laodicea; Canon 10, Synod of Antioch). The exorcist was considered by the Church to have the gift of curing, and was required to read prayers of exorcism in a clear and understandable voice, which was a criterion for his appointment to this office. The duty of the exorcist was to prepare the catechumen (candidate for baptism) through religious instructions to strengthen him spiritually to renounce Satan. The service of exorcism now is officiated by the priest in the service for the catechumens, which immediately precedes the Sacrament of Baptism.
The development of exorcism was a gradual process.
"Justin the Martyr in his first Apology (ch. 61) and other more ancient sources, such as the Teachings of the Apostles and the Acts of the Apostles, do not mention the renouncement of Satan, exorcism and the blessing of the waters in the service of baptism. Originally they were understood as part of the confession of faith of the candidate when the procedure for catechumens was developed, the text of the service of the catechism being added as elements of expression. Expressions in the text of the catechism relate to the renouncement of Satan. Fastings, beseechings, prayer and genuflections also relate to the meaning of exorcism."
Clement of Alexandria, Theodotos 84, P.G Migne 9, 697
At the same time, exorcism of water appeared (ib. 82) for the banishment of evil spirits from water. Exorcism of evil spirits from water later was carried over to the baptized person (Acts of Thomas, ch. 157, beginning of third century); exorcism of evil from water later was changed into a positive sign by blessing it instead, though its negative form was not entirely eliminated. The renouncement of Satan, the exorcism service and the blessing of the baptismal water are mentioned as occurring before the baptism ceremony for the first time in the third century", (Ecclesiastical History, by Stephanides, p.95). The exorcism prayers in baptism are the church's first steps for banishing evil spirits. Exorcism presupposes the teaching of the Church of the cleansing of original sin of Adam in baptism, in adults and infants as well.
Corruption Through the Fall of Adam
To understand the nature of exorcism it is necessary to understand the nature of Adam's corruption after his "fall" from Paradise. Adam was created with spiritual gifts given to him for his perfection, as well as the Grace of God. Adam was created "in the image" and "after the likeness" of God. "In the image" means that he had the potential, through free will, to reach the higher level that is "after the likeness" of God, being without corruption. Had the 'gifts bestowed on man by God been properly cultivated in Paradise, man - by the Grace of God - could have become holy and righteous and attained the "likeness" of God, instead of becoming corrupt and bringing about his own death. This is the, teaching of the Church on the state of man in Paradise. Adam was expected to exercise this free will and be tested in his effort to reach his destination - "after the likeness" of God, not death. He was tested by an opponent of the same nature and equal abilities. His opponent was envious and clever, a fallen angel in the form of a serpent, demon, Satan and Devil. His weapons were arrogance and disobedience, which he used to tempt Adam and Eve. He was "that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world", Rev. 12:9; "He (the serpent) was a murderer from the beginning", John 8:44.
Adam and Eve were tempted by arrogance, disobedience, selfishness and the desire for independence. Adam's sin of arrogance and disobedience to God's Will was a mortal one which penetrated his existence and that of subsequent generations. Thus, the punishment of the original sin is death, as revealed in Scripture: "for the wages of sin is death", Romans 6:23. Therefore, "none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. . . there is no fear of God before their eyes", Rom. 3:10-11,18. Almighty God in His compassion sent His Son to save "fallen" man and to reconcile him with God, for "as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous, Rom. 5:19. The excellences and qualities created in Adam were diminished and became blurred after his "fall"; still, man retained a spark of desire for perfection and distinguishing between good and evil. This blurred state in "fallen" man is sufficient, however, for him to know and to accept in humility and obedience God's Revealed Truths for his salvation in Christ. With this understanding of the nature and consequence of Adam's sin, the need for the exorcism of evil is more evident in baptism.
The Service of Exorcism
The service of exorcism consists of prayers banishing evil spirits from the catechumen and from persons suffering physical and mental illnesses. The service of exorcism for candidates in baptism is read during the service of catechumens preceding baptism. During the blessing of the water of baptism certain phrases banishing evil are used also. Before starting the reading of the prayers of exorcism prior to baptism, the priest welcomes the candidate and blesses him:
"In Thy name, O Lord God of truth, I lay my hand upon Thy servant, who has been found worthy to seek refuge in Thy Holy Name and to be sheltered under the shadow of Thy wings. Take from him that ancient error and fill him with Thy faith and hope and love that he may know Thou Alone art true God. inscribe him in Thy book of life. May Thine Eyes ever gaze upon him in mercy. Give him joy in the works of his hands".
In this beautiful prayer the priest does not mention the banishment of evil spirits. He welcomes the candidate in the name of the Lord, asking that he dedicate himself to a spiritual life under the protection of Christ. After this prayer, three prayers of exorcism are read for every candidate, adult or infant. The three exorcism prayers for the catechumens are the same in substance, banishing the evil spirits. Following are a few excerpts from the three exorcism prayers with which the priest invokes God to banish Satan:
"Be rebuked and depart ... Be afraid, come forth, and depart from this His created image ... Depart to thy own Tartaros ..." "O Satan ... through us His unworthy servants command thee and all the power which worketh with thee to remove thyself from him who hath been sealed in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our True God....
"Banish from him (candidate) every evil and unclean spirits hidden and lurking in his heart, the spirit of error, the spirit of evil, the spirit of idolatry and all covetness ... May the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan..."
And then the candidate acknowledges his faith: "I worship Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, Trinity consubstantial and undivided". The ritual order of the exorcism presupposes the willingness of the candidate, who is strengthened with the Grace of God, to avoid and ward off the temptations of the evil spirit.
These three prayers of exorcism are the familiar ones of the Church which are used in banishing the influences and temptations of Satan. In addition to these exorcism prayers at baptism, there are other prayers of exorcism for various cases.
Other Prayers of Exorcism
These prayers of exorcism are to be found in the "Book of Needs" (Gr: Great Euchologion; SI: Great Trebnik). The need of exorcism for other cases is because, with the "fall" of Adam, the physical world became corrupted, as well. This "fall" affected all aspects of nature and environment, making them easier prey for Satan and his evil spirits. The "fall" affected animals as well as human beings. In addition to many illnesses of the body and the spirit of man, there are sicknesses of animals. There is no clearly seen distinction between physical illnesses and those influenced by Satan. Thus, prayers of exorcism are to be used with great care. Often in the past, ignorance of a particular chronic illness caused men to attribute it to Satan. However, with the development of science medicine is curing illnesses usually caused by neglect, deficiency in the body or age. Therefore, illnesses should not be attributed automatically to Satan and his evil influences, nor should the service of exorcism be requested for such illnesses.
On the contrary, the Church provides the Sacrament of Holy Unction both as a symbol and carrier of spiritual power of healing. It was instituted by the Apostles themselves to heal and cure the illnesses of people by anointing the afflicted body with holy oil (cf. James 5:14-15). The Sacrament of Holy Unction is an act of divine authority in which the faithful sick person is anointed with oil (a visible sign) while divine Grace is invoked upon and transmitted to him for the healing of his sickness and forgiveness of his sins. The Christian should beseech the Lord to give him the understanding and patience to accept his afflictions with courage and inspiration. In the Orthodox Church the faithful are generally anointed with the Holy Unction on Wednesday of Holy Week. In the main prayer of sanctification of the oil in this service, God is invoked as the Physician of the soul and body to heal the sicknesses of His servant and grant him life and health through His Grace. Therefore, the prayers of exorcism are not to replace the Sacrament of Holy Unction. It is equally wrong to claim that mentally-disturbed persons are "possessed" by evil spirits. Instead, some deficiency of the body and mind is probably the cause. Evil spirits exist where the consciousness of the person is sound, when he is unbelieving and indifferent, causing a vacuum. easily filled with evil.
The other prayers of exorcism, as recorded in the "Book of Needs", are written primarily by two of the Fathers of the Church, St. Basil and St. Chrysostom. They are prayers for those who are afflicted by demons and sicknesses in general. Each wrote four such prayers. Prayers of exorcism were also written by Martyr Trifon for fields, vineyards and gardens which are unfruitful and might be "possessed" by demons. Two exorcism prayers are attributed to St. Modestos for animals afflicted during epidemics, especially for oxes, horses, donkeys, mules and sheep. St. Hypatios has written an exorcism prayer for afflicted men and animals. Another exorcism prayer is written by Martyr Mamas for afflicted animals. The theme of each of the exorcism prayers - especially those of Chrysostom and Basil, is the banishment of evil spirits from the afflicted ones in the name of Christ.
The evil spirit is mentioned in the exorcism prayers by names such as Satan and Devil and epithets describing the evil he is committing. St. Basil, for instance, refers to the evil spirit by 63 different epithets and names which are descriptive of evil affliction, such as deceiver, to name one. Basil even mentions exorcism prayers for insects which inflict damage upon vineyards, fields, etc. Characteristic to exorcism prayers of St. Chrysostom is the mention of the works, passions and Resurrection of Christ, one by one, throughout the prayers, with the specific phrase, "Jesus Christ rebukes you, O Demon ...", repeated extensively throughout his prayers. Some of these exorcism prayers are lengthy, while others are short. There is also a prayer for the banishment of the "evil eye". It also should be used with great care, since it sometimes is requested out of ignorance of the physical causes of illness, especially of circumstances unknown to the person. Therefore, it is better that prayers of healing rather than that for the "evil eye" be requested.
These exorcism prayers were usually read for protection from affliction rather than after some demonic influence might have taken place. However, it must be stressed that these exorcism prayers have seldom been used. The vast majority of priests have never said exorcism prayers except for those read at the service of catechumens at baptism. The ritual order of these prayers is a simple reading by the priest without gestures, emotions or dramatization. The service of exorcism is simple because it was not intended to be used frequently by the Church, which determined its content and order. The prayers of exorcism in the service of catechumens at the time of baptism were considered sufficient for the banishment of evil.
The most difficult task is to determine who might need this exorcism service, based on so-called symptoms that could convince the priest of the necessity for it. The distinction should be made very clear here that the candidate for baptism should not be considered "possessed" because of the exorcism prayers read prior to his baptism. The simplicity of the service of exorcism bears out this fact, because there is no instructional manual to guide the priest or determine who is to be exercised. It is left to the priest to determine whether or not a person is "possessed" by evil spirits. The priest should not readily accept any illness as being a sign of "possession", but must investigate thoroughly not only the nature of the illness but the psychological condition of the person himself. It must be emphasized here that there are persons who are healthy but may believe they are "possessed" by evil spirits. The exorcist has no certain criteria to determine whether or not a person is actually "possessed". Therefore, no prayers or exorcisms should be read with certainty except those for catechumens at baptism.
Overcoming Evil with Good
The film "The Exorcist" has not only aroused curiosity but seemingly has created an awareness and fear of "demonic influence". This is the only contribution of this film! The fact is that the main struggle the Christian has always faced is against the evil forces that surround him not only in today's turbulent world, but from the time of the "fall" of man in Paradise. Today's social climate cannot be fully understood unless it is remembered that there is an evil force working to tempt everyone and to win against those who are unbelieving and indifferent - that evil is a reality. The evil spirit develops and progresses because of indifferent and compromising attitudes toward moral standards and goodness. The behavior of man and the world at large cannot be understood unless one remains conscious of this fact. This "demonic" force works within the individual, because he consciously or unconsciously cooperates with the evil one. Everyone has to make a personal decision as to whether the "demonic force of evil" or the Spirit of God will occupy his heart and mind.
The Spirit of God helps remove from those willing to accept it the evil which drives them to hopelessness and despair. When we accept the Spirit of God in our hearts and minds, we no longer are possessed by ignorance, superstition, fear and a sinful life. These ills are the result of evil spirits at work. If evil spirits are not permitted to occupy the heart and mind; if one is strong enough within himself to overthrow the forces of evil; if one uses the boundless resources and strength received through the power of God, then "demonic possession" cannot take place and the need for exorcism of evil spirits would be non-existent.
If, the Christian lives devoutly, justifying his faith in doing good works for the needy, loving his neighbor, obeying God's commandments and practicing them daily, his life will be uplifted by the Spirit of God, and he would be free from all forces of evil. Life was meant to be a blissful state of harmony and peace in the knowledge of and faith in God. This blissful state is what God intended for man, and can be attained only through his constant alertness against evil, for "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21); "Therefore, take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand". Ephesians 6:13


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In a sense, this book is the culmination of Leen Ritmeyer's life and career. Of the April 1984 International Congress of Biblical Archaeology in Jerusalem, when his collaborative work with Benjamin Mazar was presented, Ritmeyer wrote, 'At this defining moment in my life, I realized the unraveling of the mysteries of the Mount had become my personal quest (p. 12)'.
A review of: The Quest: Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, by Leen Ritmeyer (Jerusalem: Carta). Available in the ABR Bookstore.
It all began back in 1973, when he served as field architect for Benjamin Mazar's excavations south and southwest of the Temple Mount. On this dig, in 1975, Leen met an archaeologist named Kathleen. She would become his wife and what Leen continues to call 'his best find on the dig' (for Kathleen's take, see her sidebar article in Biblical Archaeology Review Jan/Feb 2007: 45). Together they have shared in the research behind this project, and along the way have written a significant number of articles and books, beginning with a 1989 series in Biblical Archaeology Review.
The present volume brings together the various aspects of all their previous work and publications on the Temple Mount, along with their latest research (some still in press), into one volume. Leen is probably the best-known archaeological architect working in Israel. As someone who has followed their work since that first series in Biblical Archaeology Review, and later had the opportunity to work with Leen in Israel, I appreciate the who, why and how behind the book that he offers in the Preface and Introduction. His contributions to the study of the Temple Mount are immense, reflecting his breadth of knowledge and his many insights into the text. In fact, to draw on the old adage, Philip Evan's photographs of the five models of the Tabernacle and Temples, along with Ritmeyer's precise plans and drawings of the Temples and Temple Mount through the ages, are each worth a thousand words.
Ritmeyer and Carta have collaborated to create a unique volume that reads like a high school or college textbook. It was truly directed at the average student of the historical development of Jerusalem's Temple Mount, with definitions and sidebars of text and diagrams in the margins-and it delivers. Yet the sheer breadth of information and the technical nature of so much of the data make this the most extensive study to date of Temple Mount architecture and the definitive work on the subject for scholars.
One aspect that I appreciate about this volume is Ritmeyer's appreciation for and liberal use of the Biblical text. He treats both the Old and New Testaments as credible historical sources. This includes his use of the 'internal biblical chronology' (p. 7). Not feeling the need to defend or explain it, Ritmeyer simply starts from that assumed point and proceeds.
Acknowledging that his hypotheses need to be verified by archaeological excavation (a doubtful possibility, given the political and religious realities in Jerusalem), Ritmeyer believes this volume is the first work on the subject based entirely on our presently-known archaeological evidence (p. 12). Describing his approach to the subject as centripetal in nature, he starts from the present outer frame of the Temple Mount and then works towards the center.
Plan of the Temple Mount depicting the various periods of expansion (p. 168). This color plan of the Temple Mount as it is seen today clarifies the various building phases of the Temple Mount, starting with the original 1640 ft (500 cubits) square (yellow), the Hasmonean extension to the south (brown) and the Herodian additions on the north, west and south (green).
Students of the Temple Mount are familiar with the academic designations of a First Temple in Jerusalem (built by Solomon) that was destroyed and a Second Temple later rebuilt (the story is described in Ezra and Haggai) in the same area. The platform upon which it stood was the Temple Mount, of various dimensions during different periods.
The Temple Mount's full extent is discernable today. Trapezoidal in shape, it contains some 35 acres on top of its walls. Called har ha-bayit ('the Mountain of the House') in Hebrew and haram al-sharif ('the Noble Sanctuary') in Arabic, it is the holiest spot in Jerusalem for both Jews and Moslems.
Ritmeyer's starting point for the historical reconstruction of the Temple Mount is an examination of the external walls of the Herodian Temple Mount compound as known today (chapter 1). This is the architectural evidence that Ritmeyer himself has seen, photographed, measured and drawn, and not surprisingly this is the longest chapter of the book. This hard architectural evidence is the foundation for the rest of the book.
Next, Ritmeyer goes back in time to the literary and archaeological evidence for the pre-Herodian Temple Mount, the so-called 'Ritmeyer Square' (p. 12), in chapter 2. While acknowledging that the date for construction of this 500-cubit square Temple Mount can only be established with certainty by scientific archaeological excavation (p. 186), Ritmeyer suggests the present literary and archaeological evidence indicates this original Temple Mount was constructed during the First Temple period, during the reign of Hezekiah (p. 193).
From there, he looks at evidence for a Hasmonean (Second Temple) extension of the Mount to the south (chapter 3). Then he examines the later northern, southern and western extensions of the Temple Mount by Herod (chapters 4 and 5).
Drawing of the Herodian Temple Mount (p. 19). The well-known and widely circulated Ritmeyer color drawing of Herod's Temple Mount, along with associated structures and features, as seen from the southwest. This reconstruction is based directly on his own work at the Temple Mount.
Ritmeyer then turns to the Temple building itself. He reconstructs the First Temple of Solomon (chapters 6 and 7) directly upon the large exposed section of bedrock called the Sakhra ('rock' in Arabic) beneath the Muslim Dome of the Rock shrine. In chapter 8, he examines evidence for the Second Temple building (see Ezra and Haggai) at the same location as the First Temple above the Sakhra (p. 320). Then he presents Nehemiah's restoration of the square Temple Mount ('the palace [birah] which appertained to the house') along with Jerusalem's city wall (p. 322).
While he discusses the exterior walls that created the Herodian Temple Mount in chapter 1, Ritmeyer addresses the literary and archaeological evidence for the top of the Herodian Temple Mount in chapter 9. Next he examines Herod's reconstructed Temple (chapter 10). This is the building Josephus called 'a structure more noteworthy that any under the sun' (Antiquities 15: 412), and Ritmeyer's research (and models) really make it shine.
As a specialist on the history of expeditions to and excavations on and around the Temple Mount, he illuminates all we know about the digs, features, artifacts and architecture of the Mount. Ritmeyer also offers a clear and reasonable reconciliation of this archaeological evidence with Josephus and the Mishnaic tractate Middot. He uses all this evidence to illuminate the Biblical text and vice-versa. Weaving all these data together, he provides a complete picture of the historical development of the Temple, from Solomon, through Ezra to Herod. Even later Byzantine, Moslem and Crusader activities on the Temple Mount are examined to complete the picture.
While some will note that they have seen many of Ritmeyer's illustrations and insights before, this volume brings them all together in one place. But the book is not just a collection of old, albeit interesting, research. The 'Square Temple' came to light in 1984; the significance of the 'bend' in the eastern wall, reconstruction of the streets and shops around the Herodian Temple Mount, the precise location of both the Temple itself and the Ark of the Covenant beneath the Dome of the Rock, and the reconciliation of archaeological evidence with ancient non-Biblical texts are also previous insights Ritmeyer has at least partially published elsewhere. But all of it is brought together here and thoroughly explained, illustrated and tied together.
Here also, for the first time, Ritmeyer offers his reconciliation of the differences between 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. He suggests that 1 Kings presents the Temple as originally constructed by Solomon (pp. 280-93). Then, he notes the numerous changes made to that structure over the next 200 years (pp. 295-303). Finally, Ritmeyer shows that the Temple of 2 Chronicles was the Temple as it existed at the end of the kingdom of Judah (the Temple of Hezekiah and later, pp. 303-12).
The Quest is an outstanding volume that will be appreciated by both academics and students. Beautifully illustrated, it is interesting and simple enough to be a coffee table book. The photos of Ritmeyer's models, his detailed architectural drawings, and the yellow-box sidebar articles are outstanding presentations of his research.
Yet, I did find a few editorial mistakes (which I passed along for the publisher) and I would also offer a few suggestions about the presentation of the data. As one who has viewed Ritmeyer's five models of the Temple and Tabernacle (see p. 4) in person, I think a double page spread with photographs and captions (in the Preface, Introduction, or as an Appendix) would be helpful to readers and allow them to fully appreciate the numerous photos of Ritmeyer's models in the book. There were also photos of some other models that I suspect were not done by Ritmeyer. I would like to know which is which.
Isometric drawings depicting stages of development of the Temple Mount (p. 316). The five stages of development of the Mount for the Second Temple include (from top to bottom): 1. The repaired square Temple Mount; 2. the Seleucid-constructed Akra to the south; 3. the southern Hasmonean extension; 4. the Herodian Temple Mount; and 5. the Temple Mount during the Umayyad period.
As a reader, I also was interested in knowing the source of many photos, especially to know which were Ritmeyer's. In addition, while familiar with many of his drawings, I found myself often looking at a drawing with which I was not familiar, and I wanted to know if it was his work or not.
This writer has become an enthusiast for what I call 'Biblical Archaeology Review-type' extended captions for photographs and drawings. A number of photos in The Quest had one-line captions that could have been expanded to offer much greater information. Numerous coins, busts of ancient rulers, and other museum pieces could have been described in greater detail to inform on the same level as the rest of the book. I would also appreciate an expanded caption with Ritmeyer's own insights on the Tabernacle as he has depicted it in one of his models (p. 4). A well-known mosaic from Pompeii, presumed to be Alexander the Great, is depicted on page 325. There are a number of interesting facts about this mosaic (that I can never remember) that would also be helpful to readers. In light of the book's wide margins, such additional information for many of the book's photographs and drawings would probably have been easy to incorporate.
Also, I admit I am not a fan of the color drawings of Biblical events that were derived from a 19th century source. Finally, I appreciated the numerous definitions that are probably quite valuable for the book's target audience, but a nice additional touch would have been to add the linguistic etymology of each word.
As the Administrative Director of the Khirbet el-Maqatir excavation during the 1990s, I have spent a considerable amount of time with Ritmeyer. I have introduced him numerous times to audiences. This is what I usually say: 'There is no one alive today, Christian, Moslem or Jew, who has seen, measured, drawn and photographed more of the Temple Mount than Leen Ritmeyer.' With this book, I feel fully supported and vindicated!
Photo of Herodian Temple Mount model (p. 111). The nature and offset position of the Second Temple eastern gate of the Temple Mount in comparison to the Temple building is beautifully depicted in this Philip Evans photo of Ritmeyer's Herodian Temple Mount model. Included in the photo is the eastern entrance to the Court of the Women with the four giant pillared lamp stands. Clearly seen along the same east/west axis are the stepped Nicanor Gate and the entrance to the Temple itself.


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We have a Runs Created formula, the backbone of just about any offensive evaluation system. But what about the other details, like park adjustments, performance by position, baseline, and conversion to wins?
I'll deal with these one-by-one. Park adjustments in this time would be a real pain to figure. Parks change rapidly, they may have the same name but be a new structure from year-to-year, teams are jumping in and out of the league (which radically alters the "road" context for any given team from year-to-year), sample size is reduced because of shorter seasons, etc. I suppose that I could look at all of this and say it's not worth doing the work, and just use Total Baseball's PFs. But that is not the option I have chosen, because Total Baseball's park factors are subject to the same problems that the ones I would calculate would be.
So instead I have decided to simply use each team's actual RPG as the standard to which a hitter is compared. This is problematic in some sense, if your goal is building a performance or ability metric--a player on one team may be valued more highly because his team has a good pitching staff, while another may be hurt if the opposite holds. On the other hand, from a value perspective, as Bill James argued way back in 1985, the result of other games don't define the player in question's value--his contributions to wins and losses comes only in the context of the games that his team actually plays.
Additionally, there is a huge gorilla in the room in the whole discussion of early major league baseball that I am ignoring, and that is fielding. Fielding is a pain to evaluate in any time, and it is not my specialty in any case, so I am not going to even begin to approach an evaluation of the second baseman in the 1879 NL. So of course my ratings will only cover offense and while you should take offense-only ratings with some skepticism in today's game, it is even more so in a game where the ball is put in play about 90% of the time and there are 5 errors/game, etc. But by using the team's actual RPG figure, we do capture some secondary effects of, if nothing else, the whole team's fielding skill (less runs allowed means a lower baseline RG for players, as well as less runs per win). In the last paragraph I slipped in the argument about a "good pitching staff" potentially inflating a batter's value. But in this game it is even harder to separate pitching from fielding than it is today, and that "good pitching staff" is more likely "good pitching and fielding", to which our player has contributed at least a tiny bit. This is not in an attempt to say that the RPG approach would be better than using stable PFs if they existed, but just a small point in its favor that would be less obvious in 2006.
I am still going to apply a positional adjustment to each player's expected runs created, based on his primary position. Looking at all hitters 1876-1883, the league had a RG of 5.36. Here are the RG and Adjusted RG(just RG divided by the prevailing RPG, in this case 5.36) for each position:
This actually matches the modern defensive spectrum if you throw out the quirky rightfield happenings. One potential explanatory factor I stumbled upon after writing this came from an article by Jim Foglio entitled "Old Hoss" (about Radbourn) in the SABR National Pastime #25:
"When Radbourn did not start on the mound, he was inserted into right field, like many of his contemporary hurlers. In 19th-century ball, non-injury substitutions were prohibited. The potential relief, or 'exchange' pitcher, was almost always placed in right, hence the bad knock that right fielders have received all the way down to the little league game…[the practice] surely had its origins in [pitchers'] arm strength, given the distance of the throws when compared to center and left."
However, I'm not sure this explains the right field problem satisfactorily, because I did not look at offensive production when actually playing a given position; it was the composite performance of all players who were primarily of a given position. Change pitchers out in RF, if they got in more games as pitchers than as right fielders, would still be considered pitchers for the purpose of the classifications used to generate the data above. Of the men classified by Nemec as the primary RF, in the 1876-1883 NL there are 60 players. Of those 60, 23 (38%) pitched at some point during that season, but only 8 (13%) pitched more than 30 IP.
Another possibility is that if left-handed hitters are more scarce, there are fewer balls hit to right field. This might actually be the most satisfying explanation; I did not actually check the breakdown on left-handed and right-handed batters, but it figures that there were less lefties than in the modern game. I do know for a fact that there were very few left-handed pitchers at this time.
Excepting right field, the degree of the positional adjustments is not the same as it is today, but the order is essentially the same. Notably, Bill James has found that at some point around 1930, second and third base jumped to their current positions on the spectrum. But here, third baseman are still creating more runs than second baseman. Of course, the difference is not that large, but it is possible that a later change in the game caused the jump, and then in 1930 it just jumped back to where it had been at the dawn of the majors. On the other hand, it could just be an insignificant margin or a result of a poor RC formula, or what have you. Perhaps the increase in bunting, particularly in the 1890s, made third base a premium defensive position, and the birth of home run ball in the 20s and 30s and the corresponding de-emphasis of the bunt changed that. And of course it is always possible, as is likely the case for RF, that the offensive positional adjustment does not truly reflect the dynamics in play, and is a poor substitute for a comprehensive defensive evaluation, or at the very least defensive positional adjustment. What I have done is treat all outfielders equally, using the overall outfield PADJ for the WAR estimates below.
Then we have the issue of baseline. I am reluctant to even approach it here, since it always opens up a big can of worms, and most of the ways you can try to set a "replacement level" baseline are subject to selective sampling concerns. But I went ahead and fooled around with some stuff anyway. In modern times, some people like to use the winning percentages of the league's worst teams as an idea of where the replacement level is. In this period, the average last-place team played .243 ball, while the second-worst was .363 and the average of the two .303. So this gives us some idea of where we might be placing it.
I also took the primary starting player at each position for each team, and looked at the difference in RG between the total, the starters, and the non-starters. I also tossed out all pitchers. All players created 5.37 RG, while the non-pitchers were at 5.55. Starting non-pitchers put up 5.78, while the non-starters were 3.68. Comparing the non-starters to all non-pitchers, we get an OW% of .305 (while I hate OW%, it is common standard for this type of discussion). This is very close to the .303 W% of the two worst teams in the league (yes, this could be due to coincidence, and yes, I acknowledge selective sampling problems in the study). And so I decided to set the offensive replacement level at .300.
In our day I go along with the crowd and use .350--despite the fact that I think various factors (chaining and selective sampling chief among them) make that baseline too low. Here I've gone even lower, based on the same kind of faulty study. Why? Well, this is subjective as all get out, but in this time, in which there is no minor league system to speak of, when you have to send a telegraph to communicate between Boston and Chicago, when some teams come from relatively small towns by today major league standards, and when the weight of managerial decision-making was almost certainly heavy on fielding than it is today, I think that a lower baseline makes sense. If Cleveland loses one of its players, it doesn't have a farm club in Buffalo it can call and get a replacement from. They may very well just find a good local semi-pro/amateur/minor league player and thrust him into the lineup.
On the other hand (I'm using that phrase a lot in the murky areas we are treading in), the National League, while clearly the nation's top league, is not considered the only sun in the baseball solar system as it is now. Many historians believe that the gap between a "minor" league and the National League was much, much smaller than it would be even in the time of Jack Dunn's clubs in Baltimore and a strong and fairly autonomous Pacific Coast League. So perhaps a .300 NL player is really just not a very good ballplayer at all, and a team stuck with one could easily find a better one, if only there were willing to pay him or find him somewhere.
It would take a better mathematical and historical mind than I have to sort this all out. I am going to use .300, or 65% of the league RG, as the replacement level for this time.
So now the only issue remaining in the evaluation of batters is how we convert their runs to wins.
In 1876, Boston's RPG(runs scored and allowed per game) was 13.16. Pythagenpat tells us that the corresponding RPW is 12.47. In the same league, Louisville's RPG was 9.04, for 9.55 RPW. This is a sizeable difference, one that we must account for. A Boston player's runs, even compared to a baseline, are not as valuable as those of a Louisville player.
However, my method to account for this will not be as involved as the Pythagenpat. I will simply set RPW = RPG. This has been proposed, at least for simple situations, by David Smyth in the past. And as Ralph Caola has shown, this is the implicit result of a Pythagorean with exponent 2. That is not to say that it is right, but when we have all of the imprecision floating around already, I prefer to keep it simple. Also, it doesn't make that much of a difference. The biggest difference between the two figures is .37 WAR, and there are only twelve seasons for which it makes a difference of .20. For most, it is almost as negligible of a difference as an extra run created.
Let me at this point walk you, from start to finish, through a batter calculation, so that everything is explained. Let's look at Everett Mills, 1876 Hartford, who ends up as the #3 first baseman in the league that season.
Mills basic stats are 254 AB, 66 H, 8 D, 1 T, 0 HR, 1 W, and 3 K. First, we estimate the number of times he reached on an error. In 1876, the average was .1531 estimated ROE per AB-H-K (as given in the last installment). So we give Mills credit for .1531*(254-66-3) = 28.3 errors. This allows us to figure his outs as AB-H-E, or 254-66-28.3 = 159.7.
Then we plug his stats into the Runs Created formula as given in the last installment:
Next we calculate Runs Created per Game, which I abbreviate as RG. The formula is RG = RC*OG/O, where OG is the league average of estimated outs per game, and O is the estimated outs for Mills(159.7 as seen above). In 1876, there are 24.22 OG, so Mills' RG is 35.9*24.22/159.7 = 5.44.
Now we are going to calculate his Runs Above Replacement, specifically versus a replacement first baseman, who we assume creates runs at 121% of the prevailing contextual average. What is that contextual average? Well, it is half the RPG of Mills' team. Hartford scored 429 and allowed 261 runs in 69 games, so their RPG is (429+261)/69 = 10. Half of that is 5.
So we expect an average player in Mills' situation to create 5 runs. But an average first baseman will create 21% more than that, or 1.21*5 = 6.05. So we rate Mills as a below average hitter for his position. But remember that we assume a replacement player will hit at 65% of that, which is .65*6.05 = 3.93. So Mills will definitely have value above replacement; in fact 5.44-3.93 = 1.51 runs per game above replacement.
And Mills made 159.7 outs, which is equivalent to 159.7/24.22 = 6.59 games, so Mills is 1.51*6.59 = 9.95 runs better than a replacement level first baseman. If you want that all as a drawn out formula:
= (5.44 - (10/2)*1.21*.65)*159.7/24.22 = 9.95
Now we just need to convert to Wins Above Replacement. WAR = RAR/RPG. So 9.95/10 = 1.00 WAR.
So our estimate is that Everett Mills was one win better than a replacement level first baseman in 1876. At times, when I get into looking at the player results, I may discuss WAR without the positional adjustment or Wins Above Average, with or without the positional adjustment. If there's no PADJ, just leave it out of the formula or use 1. If it's WAA, leave out the .65.
Also, I may refer to Adjusted RG, which will just be 200*RG/RPG.
One little side note about Mr. Mills. You may have noticed that I said he is the third-best first baseman in 1876 in WAR, but is in fact rated as below average. Granted, there are only eight teams in the league, but we would still expect the third-best first baseman to be above average. In fact, only two of the 1876 first baseman have positive WAA, and the total across the eight starters plus two backups who happen to be classified as first baseman (with a combined total of just 29 PA) is -5.1. Apparently, these guys hit nowhere near 121% of the league average. In fact, they had a 6.03 RG v. 5.90 for the league, only a 102 ARG. Whether this is just an aberration or if first baseman as a group had not developed their hitting prowess yet, I have not done enough checking to hazard a guess. It is clear though, by the 1880s, with the ABC trio (Anson, Brouthers, and Connor) that first base was where the big boppers played.
During one of my earlier abortive attempts to analyze National Association stats, I found that in 1871 at least, first base was one of the least productive positions on the diamond. Did first base shift, position on the spectrum, or are we dealing with random fluctuations or the inherent flaws in offensive positional adjustment? Historians are probably best equipped to address this conundrum.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Early NL Series: Batter Evaluation
3 comments:
I somehow completely overlooked this series. But it's very interesting to me because (once i get some career stuff taken care of) I'm keen to do some statistical reviews of past winning Reds teams, including the 1882 team. The issue of a replacement baseline is one that I've been thinking about, as one would certainly think that replacement level has increased over time simply because the pool of talent from which teams can draw is so much bigger now than it used to be.
I'm obviously pretty new to these discussions, but I'm curious as to why the average winning percentage of the bottom-two teams would be a good indicator of replacement level. If anything, I'd think the average worst team would be your best indicator...and even then, I'd expect that few teams are actually as bad as an all replacement-level team unless incompetence is a more widespread problem than I think it is. I do see that those winning percentages match up reasonably well to the bench vs. starters comparison studies, but as you mention here, selection bias (among other problems) is a major issue with those studies...
Anyway, I'd just be interested in hearing your views on this.
JustinAs I've tried to express, I'm not particularly enchanted with any of the means of estimating replacement level. Anyway, I have been sketching out some stuff for post-1883, and I am going to switch to using .350 like I do today for those seasons.
The NL, after expelling PHI and NY in 1876, went through a period of several years in which they had to desperately look for teams from places like Indianapolis, Milwaukee (both much less impressive then than now), Worcester, Syracuse, Troy,...These teams often were run on shoestring budgets and had some pretty lousy players playing for them. It wasn't until 1879 that historian David Nemec says that playing in the NL really became seen as a status symbol, any more prestigious than playing for a strong independent club, of which there were many. The Buffalo Bisons in 1878 went 10-7 (IIRC) against their NL exhibition opponents, then joined the NL in 1879 and finished a solid third.
My point in all of that is that often the teams at the bottom of the standings were pretty weak, and one could argue that they both represented replacement level talent--relative to the world of high-level profession baseball as a whole. This is something we don't have to deal with today, since obviously the best talent all the way up the ladder is controlled by the major league clubs.
I think that treating the NL's weaklings, who moved through the league like it was a revolving door , as the baseline of talent that Chicago or Boston could reasonably acquire in an emergency is probably a mistake.
But of course I could be way off base about all of that.
But for your study, starting with the Reds in '82, I would suggest sticking with defining repl level however you do it now. And of course I would include a measure versus an average baseline as well so you have something on firmer ground. (Incidentally, I have already run my numbers and scrounged up some anecdotes for the 1882-83 AA if you ever want to compare notes--you'll probably get around to writing your series before I get around to posting my write-ups for those seasons here. Also, please be sure to explain to the Reds fans that the modern day Reds started with the 1882 team and not with the 1869 team. :-)Thanks for that, it is helpful.
I did quickly check out how a moving 10-year average winning percentage of last place teams varied over time, and it does decline from 0.380 or so in the 80's and 90's to 0.330 is the 20's, and down to 0.300 or so in the early 1900's... So, there would seem to be some basis for dropping the cutoff.
One approach that I am considering might be to set the modern cutoff to 0.350, and then use the decline in average last place team winning percentage between today and whatever historical date I'm looking at to adjust the replacement level decline. That approach, however, would drop it to 0.300 by 1945 or so, and that might be too much of an adjustment based on your work. I guess it could reflect that modern day replacement level is set too low, of course...
Like you, I'm not entirely convinced that the modern day replacement level is built upon a particularly solid foundation. I view it as more of a convenient, reasonably low baseline that seems to do a good job of balancing the value of playing time vs. performance. So I can see that there might not be anything wrong with using modern day replacement level going back quite a ways into the past as well.
I dunno, I'll keep thinking on it. :)


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When playing as Japan in Axis and Allies, 2nd edition, should Japan attack Pearl Harbor on its first turn?
If so, why and what force structure do you use? Do your actions depend on what Russia and the UK have done on their first turn (e.g. heavily fortified Eastern Russia or build an Indian factory)? Do you press on with the attack no matter what or is there a point at which you'd cut your losses and retreat? If you win, do you take your fleet back to home waters on turn two, or do you continue South or East?
If you don't attack, what's your rationale and what do you do with the units that might have participated?


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Hans Smit '58, Towering Figure in International Arbitration, Dies at 84
The leading scholar and practitioner in the fields of international arbitration and international procedure passed away on January 7, 2012, at the age of 84.
New York, Jan. 8, 2012—Hans Smit '58 LL.B. was a distinguished Columbia Law School professor and a leading scholar and practitioner in the fields of international arbitration and international procedure. He passed away on January 7, 2012, at the age of 84.
Smit was born on August 13, 1927, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He told colleagues that his mother wanted him to become a doctor but that he eschewed the University of Amsterdam's faculty of medicine in favor of the law faculty in part because law classes started later in the day.
After earning his LL.B. and LL.M. from the University of Amsterdam in 1946 and 1949, respectively, Smit went back and forth between private practice in The Hague and New York City, and he received a Fulbright scholarship in 1953. He earned a master's degree at Columbia in that same year and graduated first in his class with an LL.B. from Columbia Law School in 1958. After graduation, Smit worked for two years at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City. It was Smit's wife, Beverly, who persuaded him to try his hand at being a law professor, he said.
Smit joined the Columbia Law School faculty in 1960, assuming directorship of the Project on International Procedure, which attracted top legal minds, including U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg '59, who served as a research associate and associate director. Under Smit's leadership, the program prepared a revised version of Section 1782 of Title 28 of the United States Code, which Congress enacted in 1964. Smit's team drafted the revision together with the U.S. Commission and Advisory Committee on International Rules of Judicial Procedure, for which Smit served as a reporter for a decade.
The impact of the 1964 revision was seismic, Smit noted in a 1998 law journal article. "[It] greatly liberalized assistance given to foreign and international litigants and tribunals and, in the thirty-five years that followed its enactment, has been applied in scores of cases," he wrote in the Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce.
In 1963, Smit founded the Columbia-Leiden-Amsterdam Summer Program, which gives law students and practicing lawyers from around the world the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands for one month of intensive training in American law. Smit recalled in 2008 that the idea for the program, which continues to this day, emerged from his experience teaching in U.S. and Dutch classrooms.
"The American focus on fact-specific situations, and the challenge to probe the questions and provide appropriate answers was totally different from the memorization I experienced in my European studies," Smit said. "So when I was appointed to the Columbia Law faculty, I said, 'We should really expose the Europeans to American lawyering.'"
Smit, who led the program until 1988, said it became a powerful recruiting tool for Columbia Law School. "It . . . gave us a real advantage," Smit said in 2008. "As far as Europeans were concerned, we were the international law school. We became the natural attraction point for people who wanted to study in the United States."
Smit was also a driving force behind the creation of the J.D./Master in French Law Program, offered jointly by Columbia Law School and the University of Paris 1 - Panthéon-Sorbonne. Those who complete the four-year program receive law degrees from both schools and qualify for admission to bar examinations and the bar in both France and the United States.
In 1965, Smit further helped burnish the Law School's reputation as a global hub for the study of international law as director of the Project on European Legal Institutions, which was organized with a grant from the Ford Foundation. The project yielded a comprehensive work, The Law of the European Economic Community, which Smit co-edited with Peter E. Herzog. The book was the first multi-volume, article-by-article treatise on the subject in the English language, and it was subsequently reprinted under the title The Law of the European Union.
Smit also served as director of the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia Law School from 1980 to 1998, of the Center for International Arbitration and Litigation Law from 1997 to 2005, and of the Center for East European Law from 1998 until 2005. He also authored and edited the World Arbitration Reporter, a multi-volume work on arbitration laws throughout the world.
A reporter to the U.S. Commission on International Rules of Judicial Procedure from 1960 to 1969, Smit served as an adviser to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and as a consultant to the Judicial Conference of the State of New York. In 1978 he was appointed to the Stanley H. Fuld Chair at Columbia Law School.
Smit had a reputation as an exacting teacher who inspired both anxiety and adoration in his students, many of whom say their appreciation of his tutelage only increased after graduation.
"I did not at that time appreciate what Professor Smit referred to as the 'beauty' of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a copy of which he urged us to keep under our pillows at night," Nicole A. Gordon '77 said in a speech after accepting the 1999 Wien Prize for Social Responsibility. "[But as a practicing litigator], I saw how Professor Smit was absolutely correct about the central importance of this subject. On the surface, it was simply about lawyers' 'rules of the game,' and not about substantive results. But at a deeper level, the rules of the game do in fact affect the results."
Smit published numerous books and articles on civil procedure and international arbitration, litigation, and business transactions. He also wrote influential amicus briefs for U.S. Supreme Court cases, including Orr v. Orr, in which the Court struck down as unconstitutional an Alabama statute that barred men from receiving alimony payments.
Smit was a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the International Academy of Comparative Law. In 1987 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion by Queen Beatrix.
Outside of the legal world, Smit was keenly interested in the Middle Ages and collected 14th- and 15th-century art and furniture. He was also an accomplished water polo player. He said he missed an Olympic spot with the Dutch national water polo team only because of a dispute with the coach, who suspended him for gambling instead of resting in the hotel during the 1947 European Championship in Monte Carlo. "In the middle of the day—it was absolutely ludicrous!" Smit told the New York Daily News in the early 1980s. "I told him I would get all nervous and sweaty trying to rest. Gambling was far more relaxing."
With his powerful 6-foot-4-inch frame and refined throwing technique, Smit was relentless on offense, and he was considered among the world's top water polo players in his prime. "Water polo balances my life," he told the Daily News.
Smit is survived by his wife, Beverly, and his children, Robert H. Smit '86 and Marion Smit.
# # #
Tributes, Remembrances, and Photos
- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Global Arbitration Review Journal Obituary
- The Faculty Lounge Blog, Post by Alfred Brophy '90, Judge John J. Parker Distinguished Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law
- New York Times Guest Book
- JD Journal
- Photo Gallery of Hans Smit '58


text:
Early cars
"I drive one myself!"
"I hear they go very fast on flat ground."
"These early cars are made with only the finest quality ore for your convenience!"
Early cars are not these modern, 'sophisticated' goo-gahs that some modern people drive around with fancy paint and shiny steel tires and all this useless rubbish. Early cars are a thousand times more useful and practical to use than all this modern garbage. They cost almost nothing to get and even less to maintain. They were so cheap that once one wore out you would just dump it in a river and get a new one. The only reason that these marvels actually are called early cars is because they were driven by early man. Now you may think that we are just talking about some random nonsense because of the introduction of early man. Well, just to prove you wrong, here is an example.
Uses[edit | edit source]
An early car was mainly used for hunting. With an early car, early man could hunt like never before! Even African lions and tigers ran when they heard an early car approaching. This is because early cars had an incredible acceleration on a 90 degree slope. Much faster than modern cars.
History[edit | edit source]
One day in the Stone Age, a cro-magnon named Al Gore discovered that a rock could roll on a slope. He immediately tried strapping somebody to the rock and rolling it down a hill. He was so pleased with the results that he patented it. Then, or as a legend goes, he found a time machine and went to a time around the 1990's. He may also have stopped at a time earlier than that and banged his shoe on the podium in place of Nikita Khrushev, but that is another story. From there he started terrorizing the world, trying to spread belief in global warming. This is also another story.
Maintenance[edit | edit source]
Early car servicers quite often look a lot like gorillas. This makes them stand out in a crowd, so you don't have to spend all day looking for one. The easiest way to find an early car dealer is to go into an African rainforest and look. They like to hide in the trees. However, you must be patient, early car dealers certainly do know what to do with an early car. Every 100,000 kilometers or so, you have to change the wheels. This is very easy to do yourself. Just smash it a couple of times with a good-sized rock on the wheels until they come off. The wheels are very easy to find with most early cars, they are the parts that stick out on the sides that you don't sit on. This should be easy to find as they are usually the only ones that are not covered with blood. After this, take a couple smaller rocks and smash them to the sides until they stick. You should probably be fairly good at smashing to attempt this step. Voila: changed wheels.
Next, you have to change the oil. Or the early equivalent of it. The oil is there so that you don't kill yourself when you ride the early car. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have succeeded. However, first you must find the oil. This will probably be quite difficult, and you might want to ask the nearest gorilla for help. He will show you where the oil is and you have to change it. Good luck.
After this, you might want to wash it. Toss it into a river for a couple million years. See if that helps. We are currently in the process of testing this theory and we should be done in about a hundred thousand years.
Now, it is time to check how your car is doing in general. The outside may have rusted a bit. If this is the case, just throw the early car back into the river and get a new one. Alternatively, you could've gotten a new one before trying to service your old one as trying to service it is completely pointless and it costs approximately a hundred thousand times as much to hire a gorilla than to just get a new early car.
Manufacturing[edit | edit source]
The only company that is reported to have manufactured and sold early cars is Early Cars Inc.
Vandalism[edit | edit source]
"In Soviet Russia, the early cars are vandalised by YOU!!!"
It is very easy to vandalise an early car. They tend to be able to vandalise themselves. The easiest way to vandalise two early cars is to either pick one up and smash it into another one or to just drive one into another one. The unfortunate part about the second way is that it tends to make the early car vandalise you. Paint does not vandalise early cars very well because after they have been driven a couple of times they look like they are covered with red paint anyway. (Early cars are credited with having done the final vandalisation on the Neanderthals.)


text:
On the eve of celebrating our sixtieth birthday, The Paris Review is up for two National Magazine Awards: Fiction and General Excellence. Our fiction finalist is Sarah Frisch, whose story "Housebreaking" appeared in issue 203.
These nominations are the latest in a series of recent plaudits. Last month, we received seven nominations for the Pushcart Prize. We also had a story ("The Chair," by David Means) chosen for The Best American Short Stories and an essay ("Human Snowball," by Davy Rothbart) selected for the year's Best Nonrequired Reading.
This week, New York magazine placed our new issue in the top quadrant of its famous, feared Approval Matrix, while Adam Sternbergh, blogging for the New York Times, called it "great … great … great." He singles out "a great, long interview with Mark Leyner," the Art of Fiction with "New York literary icon Deborah Eisenberg," and "a great new poem from Frederick Seidel"; plus, "you'll look great toting The Paris Review," thanks, presumably, to our great cover.
Last / Next Article


text:
LVL1 has a new rocketeering group. This rocket engine testing platform is the first project to come out of the fledgling club. The purpose of the tool is to gather empirical data from model rocket engines. Having reliable numbers on thrust over time will allow the team to get their designs right before the physical build even starts.
The rig uses a pine base, with a PVC frame, threaded bolts, and a PVC cuff for mounting the engine in place. It is set to fire up in the air, directing the thrust down onto a scale. The flex sensor in the scale is monitored by an Arduino, and should be able to hold up to the 5000 pounds grams of thrust max which this type of engines can put out. The data is pushed via USB to a laptop computer where it is stored in a spreadsheet.
Calibration would be an issue here. But as long as they're always using the same strain sensor the numbers will be accurate enough relative to each other.


text:
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Not Rated
Copyright 1985 Stellarwind
Reviewed by
Andrew Borntreger
on 18 October 2009
The Characters:
Geoff Calvert - Our hero, as beefy and bushy as they come.
Tony Ruggles - Got some gnome in your family tree, do ya? Swallowed.
Dan Flanders - The know-it-all writer who is so omniscient that he could beat Kenny at Jeopardy if the topic was "Gamera." If asked, Dan could probably answer the following questions about the monster: How much does it weigh? What is its mother's maiden name? When was the last time it got a bikini wax? And, Saints preserve us, he has a harmonica. Gobbled.
Cindy Flanders - What does a blonde like her, with a body like that, see in a dweeb like Dan?
Mr. Morgan - Supposedly a grizzled old miner, but he freaks out and acts like a pansy for most of the film. Ingested.
Myron Hemmings - The mine manager whose greed sentenced seven people to death. Why is he the boss? Because he is a jerk. That is how capitalism works: the more you love money, the bigger a wanker you are (which says oodles about Donald Trump). Slurped.
Angela Platt - She would rather lick rocks than talk to another human being, which means that she had two career choices: geologist or AOL customer service representative. She picked geologist. Devoured.
Amy & Brian - Appetizers.
The Monster - That thing looks like a...yowza! I had no idea that they grew that big!
The Plot:
Volunteering to explore a gold mine that was closed because miners kept disappearing is something I would never do, not even if they gave me a flamethrower (and I love flamethrowers). Descending into the voracious depths of an abandoned mine is something that any sane person should avoid. The people in this movie throw caution to the wind and reenter the man-eating hole. Seven out of the nine get eaten. Coincidence?
No, it is not a coincidence. This is a monster movie, and "The Strangeness" follows the standard set of rules for the genre. Where it departs, in a big way, is the monster itself. The subterranean stop-motion horror lurking in the Golden Spike Mine is disconcerting to say the least. Describing it is a challenge. I remember reading an online description some time ago that called the creature "Lovecraftian."
Lovecraftian? Really?
The monster is a
nine-foot-tall, slime-dripping, tentacled horror.
I just wouldn't call it Lovecraftian. Whoever wrote that has never had a girlfriend (sounds about par for most Internet movie critics).
Anyway, off into regular monster movie territory as we meet two unlucky individuals, Amy and Brian, who enter the abandoned mine. They immediately get eaten, thus establishing that there is indeed something terrible lurking in the old hole. We are then introduced to the primary characters, who have been hired to determine if the Golden Spike Mine is worth reopening. The assembled party spends the night around a campfire listening to Dan recite various spooky stories about the Golden Spike Mine. He tells them about Indian legends, disappearing miners, and mysterious circumstances. There is a history of strangeness surrounding the old mine, and the natural caverns it connects to. These people should know better than to go poking around in a place like that!
Come morning, the group rolls up their sleeping bags and hikes to the small cave mouth that is the only accessible entrance to the mine. They crawl inside, finding that the inside of the mine is nice and roomy, with lots of heavy wood infrastructure. One by one, the explorers climb down a rope to the lower level (nobody remains topside). As the last person nears the bottom, the rope is suddenly cut! Mr. Hemmings dismisses the foreboding occurrence as an accident: the rope must have rubbed against something. Reluctantly, the crew sets off into the eerie blackness to look for signs of an undiscovered gold vein as a mysterious wind howls through the dark tunnels.
So, thus far, we have:
An abandoned gold mine.
Two people whose only function in the film is to get eaten.
A mismatched group of people who do not necessarily get along.
One hot blonde, and one homely brunette.
An annoying know-it-all.
Multiple legends and stories about the old mine, and none of them good.
No way to contact the outside world in case of an emergency.
A rope mysteriously cut.
Ominous winds that are entirely out of place inside of a mine.
What comes next? Come on, you know this. What comes next? Is somebody going to get eaten? They are? You are so right! Somebody is going to get eaten, and the rest of the explorers will not know what happened to her. Angela crawls into a side passage to look for promising rocks. She becomes monster kibble. However, an earthquake shakes the mine right after the unfortunate woman gets her chance to see the inside of a uterus again (that could be a reincarnation joke; it could also be something else). The powerful trembler causes part of the tunnel to collapse; Geoff and the others think that Angela is buried alive.
Even worse, the collapse seals off the way out, and Mr. Hemmings did not tell the company about the expedition because he wanted to keep any gold they found for himself. To escape from the mine, the group must descend to the condemned lower levels, the area that the original miners considered the most dangerous part of the accursed hole. Faced with that prospect, Mr. Morgan goes all collywobbles in his knickers. He gets even worse when they stumble on Angela's half-digested remains. A practical member of the group tries to explain why the dead woman looks all dissolved and sticky by saying that acid can pool in tunnels.
Just add the following to the monster movie checklist:
Way out blocked by unexpected disaster.
"Nobody knows we are here."
Old, tough guy turns into a wuss.
"There is a perfectly rational explanation that Angela, who was killed by a cave-in, looks partially digested."
We are solidly in ho-hum monster movie script territory here, and the plot is moving awfully slow. Sometimes, just sometimes, the film gets it right, and you feel the claustrophobic darkness closing in on the frightened characters. Enjoy those moments, because they do not last for long. More than once, the wind rushing through the tunnels completely ruined any ominous atmosphere that my imagination managed to create. Anyone looking for a drinking game to play during "The Strangeness" should take a drink whenever it gets windy.
Hold the phone! That is why that romance-challenged Internet reviewer called the creature "Lovecraftian." They had read "The Shadow Out of Time," and connected the mysterious wind with the subterranean horrors referred to as the flying polyps. Egad but that is tenuous.
Dan waits until the others are sleeping, then he creeps away to search for an escape route. What? The person who is the duty expert on the Golden Spike Mine, who knows its history and legends better than anyone else, decides to wander off alone? In the movie "Scream," that would be like Randy suddenly asking for a keg and a hooker. It's insane to think that the knowledgeable writer would do such a thing.
Anyway, Dan meets the monster. I am going to have to describe it, aren't I? Oh, goodness. Okay, here goes: it's a giant, man-eating vagina slug. I swear, that is the most coherent description I can muster. The thing is nearly nine feet tall, with fleshy tentacles sticking out of the main mass. It's what is on top of the main mass that gives me pause, because it looks
part of a woman (the immediate outside at least). Hence, giant, man-eating vagina slug.
From now on I will refer to the creature as the "you know what," "woo mama," "tuna flesh sandwich," or some other less-offensive term.
Everybody hears Dan getting swallowed by the you know what. Geoff attempts to find the doomed man, and he does locate the writer's body - gooed to the ceiling. It sucked the poor guy in, then spat him onto the ceiling! Since when did those do that? The prospect of becoming mommy parts chow completely freaks out Mr. Morgan. He runs off into the dark tunnels; the rampaging poontang monster promptly gobbles him up. Then Tony gets sucked into the mobile meat curtains, but he does not stay there very long. Dan finds his friend half-digested and stuck to the floor by slimy secretions.
Man, this thing's problem is that it has an upset stomach, which is probably from swallowing its food whole all the time. No teeth, you know.
The last three members of the cast are still looking for a way out of the tunnels when Hemmings loses it and comes after Geoff with a pickaxe. Our hero is only knocked unconscious by the surprise assault, but Cindy is helpless as Hemmings closes in for the kill. Suddenly, the terrified woman sees something behind the psychotic mine manager. He turns around and gets snatched up by the slimy horror. Let me tell you, the stop motion scene of Hemmings being eaten by the woo mama is a humdinger. The creature wraps its tentacles around the unfortunate meat treat, then swallows his noodle! Muffled screaming is heard as Hemmings suffers a slow, painful death by digestive asphyxiation. Remember: this is all done with stop motion, it might even be claymation. What it looks like is a love taco (flesh flaps and all) trying to suck the head off of a Han Solo action figure.
My word, that is disturbing.
Where we are at with that standard monster movie checklist:
Freaked out character runs off in a panic and gets eaten.
Close friend found half-eaten.
Boss goes crazy and tries to kill the hero and the girl.
Monster sneaks up behind the crazy boss, thus saving the hero and girl.
Hero and girl kill the monster.
Oops, got ahead of myself. That last one has not happened yet, but Geoff and Cindy are working on it. Fear not, for the fearless hero and his trusty companion shall vanquish the man-gobbling beast back to the nether regions from whence it came.
Yeah, Google should have a blast matching search keywords to this review.
During October we are celebrating Monster Movie Mayhem! Click on the banner for more reviews.
Things I Learned From This Movie:
Obituated: O·bit·u·at·ed (oh-bich-oo-ate-ed) v., 1. Being dead according to the newspaper.
Apples grow on kelp plants.
Plastic explosive is indistinguishable from Amish Friendship Bread starter.
Writers suffer from selective hearing.
Geologists are trained to recognize different ores by their taste.
Wind chimes were invented by paranoid miners.
Incandescent light bulbs usually last more than 100 years.
A SLR camera's flash can be used as a rescue beacon.
Stuff To Watch For:
6 mins - Amy, you need to shut up for five seconds.
Opening credits (7 mins) - That last name is the written equivalent of an Escher drawing.
14 mins - Did it just eat a pig?
34 mins - Sitting beside Morgan in the waiting room of a dentist's office would be an interesting experience.
40 mins - When is this scene going to end?
50 mins - Who cares?
66 mins - "Fine with me, gov'nor. 'E'll be back for a snack bonny soon. Cheerio!"
78 mins - I am going to have nightmares about that thing for sure.
86 mins - The most disturbing part about this is the thick slime oozing from the creature's "maw."
Audio clips in wav format
Starving actors speak out
Dan: "Regardless of what anybody knows, there's an overwhelming amount of evidence that something is up there."
Geoff: "And you wanna find it?"
Angela: "Well, I'd like to know what happened to the Golden Spike. According to the county records for surveyors' information, they gave no reason for its closing."
Geoff: "Now, that's something I'd find of value myself. You know, it never hurts to know all you can about a played out mine, before you go crawling around in it."
The group discussing their options after discovering that their escape route is blocked. Hemmings makes an "ulp" sound at the end because Geoff punches him.
Dan: "Voices from the past!"
Hemmings: "Oh, don't be poetic. If you know something, spit it out."
Dan: "When the dig finally closed in 1883, the miners sealed the inner chambers to prevent whatever was picking them off from getting out."
Cindy: "Where's Dan?"
Morgan: "Hey, what is it?"
Hemmings: "He's dead, isn't he, Calvert?"
Cindy: "No God, please no!"
Hemmings: "You've got to let us know what we're up against!"
Geoff: "I don't know."
Tony: "Geoff!"
Geoff: "Shut up, you big, dumb fool!"
Cindy: "I want my husband!"
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The Giant Claw
Earth is visited by a GIANT ANTIMATTER SPACE BUZZARD! Gawk at the amazingly bad bird puppet, or chuckle over the silly dialog. This is one of the greatest b-movies ever made.
Lesson Learned:
Osmosis: os·mo·sis (oz-mo'sis, os-) n., 1. When a bird eats something.
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A new bill introduced today by Rep. David Simpson (R-Longwood) would criminalize invasive TSA pat downs in Texas and put the Lone Star State on course for another collision with the feds who last year torpedoed similar legislation after threatening to impose a federal air blockade.
The Texas Travel Freedom Act, House Bill 80, would ban the very procedure that has caused rancor across the country, namely any pat down that, "touches the anus, breast, buttocks, or sexual organ of the other person, including touching through clothing."
The bill would also make it an offense for a TSA screener, or indeed any federal employee, to remove, "A child younger than 18 years of age from the physical custody or control of a parent or guardian of the child or a person standing in the stead of a parent or guardian of the child."
This would put an end to the TSA's penchant for separating children from their parents when conducting invasive pat downs on minors.
The bill would also punish any federal employee who, "harasses, delays, coerces, threatens, intimidates, or effectively denies or conditions access to the other person because of the other person's refusal to consent to" the invasive pat down.
"If you walk up to somebody and grab their crotch out on the street, it will land you in jail. Blue uniforms and federal badges don't grant some goon the power to sexually assault you, or at least they shouldn't. A person doesn't forfeit her or his personal dignity with the purchase of an airline ticket," commented the Tenth Amendment Center's Mike Maharrey in response to the bill.
The bill's reintroduction now sets the stage for a repeat of last year's battle between Texas the federal government which eventually saw the feds resort to egregious threats of imposing a blockade over the state in order to sink the legislation.
The TSA and the Department of Justice resorted to financial terrorism by threatening a federal blockade that would have closed down Texas airports if the Texas Senate had followed the House in unanimously passing a bill that would have made TSA groping in the state a felony. The threats prompted protesters, led by Alex Jones, to peaceably storm the Capitol in Austin.
In a letter sent to Texas lawmakers, including to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Speaker Joe Straus, the House Clerk, and the Senate Secretary, U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy threatened to cripple the airline industry in the state if legislators did not back down.
"If HR [sic] 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute," Murphy wrote. "Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of passengers and crew."
Rep. Simpson introduced the new version of the bill with a message that it was the state's responsibility to protect the rights of the people when the feds had abused their power.
"Abel Upshur's words are pertinent to our cause. 'It is indispensably necessary to maintain the States in their proper position. If their people suffer them to sink into the insignificance of mere municipal corporations, it will be in vain to invoke their protection against the gigantic power of the Federal Government,'" he said.
We join the Tenth Amendment Center in encouraging people in Texas to contact their representatives and urge them to support the bill by clicking here. We also support the effort to introduce model legislation that would replicate the travel freedom bill across the entire country by clicking here.